Buskirk, Edmond are named Lehigh Valley's top football scholar athletes

CHRIS SHIPLEY, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL

Penn State coach James Franklin speaks at the Lehigh Valley chapter of National Football Foundation's Annual Football Scholar Athlete Banquet held on Sunday at Northampton Community Center.

Penn State coach James Franklin speaks at the Lehigh Valley chapter of National Football Foundation's Annual Football Scholar Athlete Banquet held on Sunday at Northampton Community Center. (CHRIS SHIPLEY, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)

Ties have long since been eliminated from high school football. Except where the National Football Foundation's Lehigh Valley football scholar athlete program is concerned.

On Sunday night, with nearly perfect attendance at its 55th awards dinner at the Northampton Memorial Community Center despite a winter storm, the committee announced co-winners of the top scholar-athlete award: Southern Lehigh's Travis Edmond and Whitehall's Jacob Buskirk.

A quarterback, safety and linebacker, Edmond is ranked 20th in his class and is a National Honor Society member and was a first team All-State selection. He will be continuing his football career at Wagner (N.Y.), where he'll begin the long trek toward becoming a brain surgeon, in part because his grandmother died of a stroke when he was a sophomore.

"That kind of got me a personal interest in it," he said, "because I want to help other people and hopefully after med school I can figure out something how to help people in their lives. That's my ultimate goal."

The athletes were rewarded following an address from Southern Lehigh principal Christine Siegfried and Penn State football coach James Franklin, whose message to the athletes was in essence to maximize their time and never lose appreciation for how good they have it.

Seems that message was digested by Buskirk, a fullback and linebacker bound for Lehigh, long before Franklin ever conceived it.

"He was always motivated in everything," said his mother, Patty. "Academics, anything he does, he does all the way."

"We didn't need to push him," said his father, Mark. "He always just had the drive. We never had to make him do his homework. He always had it done. I coached him in football, so you never had to push him on the football field."

Jacob's parents are especially thrilled that he is staying so close to home for at least the next four years.

As the oldest of four children, he keeps setting an example.

"That was a major part [of the decision]," Jacob said. "It means a lot to me to be able to come and watch them play in their sports because they've always been at my athletic events."

Buskirk is 18th in a class of 350 and also was an All-State selection. Outside of football, he plays varsity basketball and is a member of the German Club and Math Honor Society.

Edmond is a teen counselor and tutor who also volunteers for his church's Pumpkin Patch for Younger Children.

"It feels great," he said. "It's been a lot of hard work the last four years and it feels great to have this award to kind of cap off my senior year. It's been a lot of work, and it really feels good to have a payoff."

Both athletes fittingly possess the values Franklin minutes earlier said that he seeks to surround himself with at State College.

"Our core values, there are four of them," Franklin said. "No. 1 is to have a positive attitude. That's something that you can control. … Wake up every single morning with a positive attitude.

"… No. 2, tremendous work ethic. … No. 3, compete in everything you do, compete in the classroom, compete in the community, compete on the practice field, the football field, whatever it is, whatever you do. Those last two things were what this country was built on, in my opinion — being the most competitive society in the world and having an unbelievable work ethic.

"… And then the fourth thing that we talk about all the time is sacrifice. Are you willing to sacrifice things that the common man won't sacrifice to be special? Everybody wants success, but are you willing to sacrifice and do the things you have to do to be successful long term?"

Actually, Franklin could have been describing any of the 34 high school athletes, one from each football program in the region, and six local college athletes who were honored on this night.

Edmond and Buskirk will forever be at the head of this year's class and part of a prestigious list that goes back to 1961.